Periodic wallpaper rotation

[Sprim56]

To be able to choose a set of wallpapers and have them rotate instead of just one.

[nihalxkumar]

This guide will help you set up automatic wallpaper rotation with synchronized theme changes for your Hyprland setup using systemd.

What This Does

• Changes wallpaper every 30 minutes
• Generates a color scheme based on the new wallpaper
• Updates:
  • AGS bar colors
  • Hyprland colors
  • Terminal colors
  • GTK theme (if using Gradience)
  • Other integrated components

Prerequisites

Your wallpapers should be in your Pictures directory:

~/Pictures/Wallpapers/

Your AGS configuration should be in:

~/.config/ags/

Setup Steps

1. Create necessary directories

mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user/

2. Create the systemd service file

nano ~/.config/systemd/user/wallpaper-change.service

Add this content:

[Unit]
Description=Change wallpaper and generate colors periodically
After=graphical-session.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
Environment=DISPLAY=:0
Environment=WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-1
Environment=XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/%U
Environment=PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin
Environment=XDG_CONFIG_HOME=%h/.config
Environment=XDG_CACHE_HOME=%h/.cache
Environment=XDG_STATE_HOME=%h/.local/state
Environment=HOME=%h
ExecStart=/bin/bash -c '\
  WALL=$(fd . "$(xdg-user-dir PICTURES)/Wallpapers/" -e .png -e .jpg -e .svg | shuf -n1) && \
  %h/.config/ags/scripts/color_generation/switchwall.sh "$WALL" && \
  sleep 2 && \
  %h/.config/ags/scripts/color_generation/switchcolor.sh "$(cat %h/.local/state/ags/user/color.txt)"'

[Install]
WantedBy=graphical-session.target

3. Create the timer file

nano ~/.config/systemd/user/wallpaper-change.timer

Add this content:

[Unit]
Description=Change wallpaper every 30 minutes

[Timer]
OnBootSec=1min
OnUnitActiveSec=30min
Unit=wallpaper-change.service

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

4. Enable and start the service

# Reload systemd
systemctl --user daemon-reload

# Enable the timer to start at boot
systemctl --user enable wallpaper-change.timer

# Start the timer
systemctl --user start wallpaper-change.timer

Verification

1. Check if the timer is running

systemctl --user status wallpaper-change.timer

2. Test the service manually

systemctl --user start wallpaper-change.service

3. Check logs if there are issues

journalctl --user -u wallpaper-change.service -f

Customization

• To change the interval, modify OnUnitActiveSec=30min in the timer file
• To change wallpaper directory, modify the fd command path in the service file
• The sleep 2 ensures proper color generation; adjust if needed

Troubleshooting

1. Service not starting:

   • Check if all paths in the service file match your setup
   • Verify all required scripts exist in your AGS config
   • Check logs using the journalctl command above

2. Colors not updating:

   • Ensure AGS is running
   • Check if color generation scripts have proper permissions
   • Verify the state directory exists: ~/.local/state/ags/

3. Wallpaper not changing:

   • Verify wallpaper directory exists and contains images
   • Check if fd command is installed
   • Ensure proper file permissions

Additional Notes

• The service runs in user space, so no root privileges are required
• The timer will start automatically after boot
• Wallpaper changes are randomized from your wallpaper directory